Binding attachment for sewing-machines



No. 6l5,678. Patented Dec. l3, I898. J. H. CLARK.

BINDING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

(Application filed-Feb. 8, 1894.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES JAMES H. CLARK, or CHICAGO,

PATENT rricE.

ILLINOIS, AS SIGNOR TO THE IVHEELER &

BlND-ING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 615,678, dated December13,1898. Application filed February 8,1894. Serial No. 499,470. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES H. CLARK, a citi zen of the United States, anda resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Binding Attachments forSewing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of sewing-machine attachmentsemployed for sewin g braid, tape, or bias binding upon the ends ofsuspenders, belts, and various other bandlike articles of woven or otherfabric.

Among the primary objects of my invention is included that of producingan attachment which shall be capable of application to various types ofsewing-machines and which shall enable such machines to take the braid,tape, or bias binding in continuous form from a reel and to feed itcontinuously to the needle during the operation of the sewing-machineand in case of bias binding to fold the raw edge of the binding under,so that when sewed onto the goods it has a smooth edge.

A further primary object of my invention is to produce an attachment ofsuch character that at the beginning of the binding of an article the.edge of the braid, tape, or bias binding can be folded under, so thatit does not show a .raw edge and is neat in appearance and also preventsit in use or Wear from fraying out, and which at the end of the workwill again fold the binding under, so as to leave the finish of thebinding smooth and neat.

A still further primary object of my invention is to produce anattachment which can be readily applied to. and detached from asewing-machine and which shall be easy to manipulate, reliable in itsoperation, not liable to become disabled, and which will insure a neatfinishing of the work to perfectly accord in appearance with thecommencement of the same.

These objects and such others as may appear from the ensuing descriptionare attained by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich--- Figure 1 is a plan view of certain parts of a sewing-machinewith a binding attachment embodying my invention applied thereto, theattachment being shown in the position which it occupies during theoperation of the sewing-machine. Fig. 2 is a View similar to that ofFig. 1, but showing the attachment in the position to which it is movedat the completion of the operation of the sewing-machine. Fig. 3 is aVertical section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is an outerside elevation of the folder. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of theattachment, the direction of view being toward the receiving end of thefolder. Fig. 6 comprises a plan View of the folder extension and aninverted plan View of the pivotal carrier for the folder, said partsbeing detached from each other.

Binding attachments which embody my present invention are applicable toa great variety of styles or types of sewing-machines, and for thisreason I have shown in the drawings only such parts of a sewing-machineas will indicate the general operative and idle positions of theattachment relative to the feed and needle, and it is to be understoodthat such parts are merely typical unless otherwise specified and formno essential elements of my invention.

In the said drawings, A designates the bedplate of a sewing-machine; B,the inner slide; 0, the outer slide, and D the needle or throat plateinterposed between said slides. In Fig. 1 the inner slide is shown asopened partially, thus exposing its end recess 1) of the inner slide,the purpose of which recess will be hereinafter explained. E designatesthe presser-foot bar, F the presser-foot, and G the needle, all of theseparts, excepting the presser-foot, being either of the forms shown or ofany other suitable or desirable forms.

The attachment consists, stated in a general way, of a folder I, havinga lateral extension J, a carrier-arm K, to whichthe extension of thefolder is adjustably connected and which is pivotally and detachablyconnected to the bed-plate of .a sewing-machine. The folder I isconstructed usually of thin but rigid sheet metal-such as sheet steel,iron, brass, or the likeand is of approximately triangular form in sideelevation, as

is best shown in Fig. 4:, the wider end of the folderbeingits receivingend and the narrower end of said folder being its delivery end. The twoopposite side edges 2' of the folder are bent over and twisted inwardagainst the outer side of the folder each from a point near the deliveryend of the folder to about midway of the receiving end thereof and insuch manner as to leave two oppositely-disposed tubular channels betweenthe curved side portions 2' and the body of the folder, the saidchannels converging toward each other from opposite points near thereceiving end of the folder to opposite points near the delivery endthereof. At the receiving end of the folder is located a guide-plate I,which in its general form is also triangular, the wider end of .saidguide being adjacent to the receiving,

end of the folder and said guide being located at the outer side of thefolder-body. From opposite sides of the larger end of this guideplate Iextend oppositely outward two lips i, which embrace the correspondingsides of the receiving end of the folder-body, so as to retain theguide-plate in connection with the folder, the lips 2" being either bentforcibly against said part-s of the folder or soldered or otherwisesecured thereto, if necessary. The opposite end of this guide-plate isbifurcated longitudinally in such manner as to form a longitudinal slotor recess '5, extending about midway to the wider end of the plate, andthe adjacent surfaces of the guide-plate and folder do not touch eachother, a sufficient space intervening between said surfaces to permitthe binding-tape to pass freely between the guide-plate and thefolder-body, as hereinafter explained. I have thus quite minutelydescribed the construction of the folder in order that the operation ofthe entire attachment may here become perfectly clear; but I desire itto be clearly understood that I do not confine myself to this preciseform of folder, my invention contemplating any type of folder which willeffectively double a braid or tape transversely, so that the tape shallproperly embrace the edges to be bound and so that the edges of the tapeshall be turned under, as hereinafter fully explained. In any event thefolder is provided with an arm or extension such, for example, as isshown at J -for enabling the folder to be adjustably connected to apivoted carrier, to be hereinafter described. As shown, the extension Jis laterally enlarged at that end to which the folder is connected, soas to extend from the delivery end of the folder nearly to the receivingend thereof, and the folder may be soldered, riveted, or otherwisesecurely connected to the extension, or the two maybe formed integrallywith each other, if preferred. The extension J is shown as formed on itsupper side with a straight rib j, extending throughout the length of theextension midway between the sides thereof, and said extension is alsoshown as recessed segmentally, as at j, at that end which is re motefrom the folder and also as provided with an internally-screwthreadedeye 3', placed about midway of the length of the extension and formedthrough both said extension and its rib, the purpose of the segmentalrecess in the extension being to enable the extension tofreely movewithout contact with hub or boss K.

The carrier K is shown as a metal arm having at one end a hub Kprotruding downward] y from its under side and provided also with astraight groove 7c, formed in the under side of the arm and extendingfrom the hub K to the end of the arm which is remote from the boss. Thisarm or carrier K is also shown as formed intermediately of its ends witha slot or elongated opening is, the length of which coincides in itsdirection with the length of the arm or carrier.

The carrier K is detachably and pivotally secured to the sewing-machineby a pivotscrew L, the lower end portion l of which is shown as reducedin diameter and also as externally screw-threaded to enter aninternally-screw-threaded socket m, formed in one of the two usual lugsM beneath the bed-plate A of a sewing-machine. The pivot-screw L extendsvertically upward from the lugM and through the boss K of the carrier K,the upper end portion of the pivot-screw protruding upward beyond theupper surface of the carrier-arm K. As shownfthe pivot-screwis of plaincylindrical form throughout, excepting its lower end portion, and theupper extremity of the screw-stem is surrounded bya cap or sleeveN,which is shown as secured against turning upon the stem by a set-screwn,which is inserted radially into the sleeve and the inner end of whichimpinges against the stem. A spiral spring 0 surrounds the protrudingpart of the screw-stem L and has its upper end inserted into the cap orsleeve N and its lower end similarly inserted into a socket in the uppersurface of the carrier-arm K, the point of attachment of the lower partof the spring being eccentric to the pivot-stem L. Obviously the cap orsleeve N may be connected in various ways to the pivot screwstem, so asto be incapable of turning independently thereof; and it is evident alsothat the upper and lower ends of the spring 0 may be connected invarious ways to the cap-sleeve and carrier-arm. It is desirable that thecapsleeve be detachable from the stem L, but it IIO is not absolutelyessential that such be the case.

The extension J and the carrier-arm K are adj ustabl y connectedtogether bya clam pingscrew J, the stem of which passes freely throughthe slot 7c of the carrier-arm and screws into the eyes j of theextension. The engagement of the rib J and also the pres ence of theslot it enables the extension J to be moved longitudinally of thecarrierarm K toward and away from the boss K, so as to bring thedelivery end of the folder into pre cisely the required operativeposition relative to the presser-foot F and needle G, the clam ing-screwJ being tightened to preserve t e required position of adjustment.

In order to bring the folder into proper position relative to thepresscr-foot of the machine, the boss K, as shown, extends downward intocontact with the lug M, and to permit this positional relation of theparts the slide B is recessed at its outer end, as atb, so as to embracethe hub K. The spring 0 acts to swing the carrier K in such a directionas to move the folder I into position adjacent to the presser-foot andneedle of the machine, and the extent of this movementis limited by astop-such, for example, as d-protruding upward from the throat-plate Dand which is engaged by the extension J. Obviously any suitable form ofstop may be used, such stop being acted upon by any of the moving parts,according to the structural character and position of the stop.

The presser-foot F is shown as formed with a recess f, the margins ofwhich are of L form, the recess thus opening toward the slide B and alsotoward the operator when the latter is in working position.

The operation of the above-described attachments is as follows: Thebraid, tape, or bias binding is inserted in the wide end of the folderand with the point of a pair of scissors or a like device inserted intothe slot or recess I it is pulled through to the delivery end of thefolder, and the plate or guide holding the braid, tape, or bias bindingclose to the folder, and in the case of bias binding allowing the rawedge of the binding to be turned over onto itself. The braid, tape, orbias binding is then folded over at right angles to itself and the workthen inserted in the folder, and the operator then proceeds in theordinary manner, guiding the work so as to keep the edgeof the workclose to the folder, as is well known to those experienced in binding.

, When the end of the work is reached and while the needle is still inthe work,the presserfoot is raised and the folder is pulled toward theoperator with the right hand, and the binding is folded under the workat right angles to the line of feed. The presser-foot is then lowered,and three or four stitches are then taken with the folder in position asshown in Fig. 2. The work is then removed and trimmed in the ordinarymanner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is- I 1. A binding attachment forsewing-machines, comprising a folder and a folder-carrier, a pivot-stempassing freely therethrough and form ed for stationary but detachableconnection to a sewing-machine, a cap rigidly connected to thepivot-stem, and a returning spring connected to said cap andfolder-carrier, and acting to hold the folder in operative position,substantially as set forth.

2. A binding attachment for sewing-ma-. chines, comprising a folderhaving its forward edges bent over, and provided with an extensionhaving a rib formed on its upper surface, in combination with aguide-plate provided with lips embracing the folder and with alongitudinal slot, a carrier-arm grooved to receive the rib of thefolder extension, a pivotstem passing through the carrier=arm, a caprigidly connected to the pivot-stem, and a spring connected to said capand carrier-arm, and acting to hold the folder in operative position. v

' JAMES H. CLARK.

Witnesses:

JNo. L. Common,

-- M. E. SHIELDS.

